


we're the alley cats and they can throw their stones

by mellerbee



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Blood and Injury, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Gore, Trans Sonny, its not a major plot point though, just mentioned, unsafe binding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 14:37:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10538517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellerbee/pseuds/mellerbee
Summary: "The hell happened to you?""Fuck blackouts."The night of the blackout if Pete never showed up at the bodega.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There is pretty graphic injury in this story, please be safe while reading. Mind the tags.
> 
> Title from the song Empty Gold by Halsey

Nothing could have prepared Pete for when an angel himself knocked on his door that night, covered in blood and with only one shoe. No, he was not expecting a visitor that night.

"Can I come in?" Sonny breathed out, every syllable a struggle, words muffled by the blood bubbling out his lip. He twitched repeatedly, as if he had no control of his own limbs. He reached to grab the railing, smearing blood across the rust.

"The hell happened to you?" The older boy stuttered out, the door slamming into the outside wall. He motioned for the blood-soaked kid to come inside, but it became clear he'd collapse if he moved one inch more. So when Sonny didn't reply, he collected him into his arms without ceremony. The smaller was silent, the only sound his ragged breathing. The door shut behind them, sealing them into Pete's shitty apartment.

He was faintly aware of blood soaking through his t-shirt, but all his senses were focused on the boy in his arms. Alive, but the injuries wouldn't be known until the blood was washed away. Swinging open the bathroom door all the way, he ever so gently placed the boy down on the white tiles. "Can you tell me what happened?" He questioned, wincing at how shaky his voice sounded.

"Fuck blackouts," was all he said, curling up tighter in the corner. He looked so small now, not the same Sonny that Pete was used to. Well, Pete wasn't exactly used to seeing him covered with blood at 10p in general, but the unordinary continued beyond his appearance.

"You gotta tell me more than that," Pete pushed, crouching down until he was eye level with Sonny. Sonny himself avoided eye contact, indents left in his bottom lip from where he had been biting it. He always had a habit of biting his lips, more so since Pete was a bit more obvious about his apparent crush. "Where's the blood coming from?"

The boy coughed, blood splattering out in front of him in a red arc. "I was closing up the bodega when the power went out. Looters—looters tried to take the cash. Wouldn't let 'em. Man, 'Navi's gonna be pissed—" he cut himself off with more coughing, flinching away as blood splattered across Pete's face. The older couldn't care in the slightest about blood on him, not in this situation.

"Cariño-" Pete let his head drop into his hands, letting out a deep sigh. "Can you get your clothes off yourself? I need to look at those injuries." He set to searching for a washcloth, or something to get the blood off. Fuck, this wasn't good. Wasn't good was really all he could describe it as, but his regularly word-challenged mind had stopped functioning entirely.

He could hear slight scuffling in the background, arms and legs unwinding. Sonny hissed in pain, and Pete could hear him suck in a breath to keep from crying out. "No," he replied shortly, going limp. "Can't move enough. Hurts."

"Aha!" After a few moments of digging through toiletries and other stuff he didn't even know he owned, a washcloth emerged, a faded purple color. Turning on the faucet for a spit second to wet it, he returned to his former spot on the tile, kneeling before the younger boy. It took a few tries before the blood on exposed skin was cleaned away, revealed dark bruises, along with a few shallow cuts and the occasional gash. The bruises were clearly fresh, covering nearly every inch of skin.

Sonny remained completely still throughout it, though he winced slightly whenever the cloth was pressed down even a bit too hard. Pete attempted to distract him with mumbles in both English and Spanish, whispers of you're doing good and I've got you. Those three words almost slipped past his lips a time or two, but in the end, the boy before him likely wasn't even conscious enough to hear if he did say it. "I've gotta take the rest of your clothes off, that good?"

"Mhm," Sonny muttered sleepily, eyes dropping shut. His head lolled against his shoulder before he shot back up, eyes flickering.

"That's a good boy," even with the bruises and swelling, a blush could be seen flowering across Sonny's cheeks. It mirrored Pete's own as he realized what he said, though he shoved it aside for the time being. He busied himself in tugging Sonny's basketball shorts off, an action that should have been intimate, but instead felt akin to undressing a corpse. Next was the muscle tank Sonny loved, now bloodstained and torn. Pete made a mental note to find money to buy him a new one.

His heart sank as the bandages that wrapped Sonny's chest were revealed, noticing the way the smaller tensed up as he begun to unwind them. "You gotta stop this, man. You're gonna hurt your ribs," Sonny was silent in response to the remark, leaning forward a bit to make the task easier. The new bruises should have been clear in comparison to the old ones left by the bandages, but there were so many, it was difficult.

He left his boxers on for now, cleaning away the rest of the gore with a light hand. Sonny relaxed into the touch, eyes slipping shut every now and then. Pete made sure to keep talking, pressing harder with the cloth in a futile attempt to keep the younger awake. He left for a moment to grab the first aid kit from the hall he managed to call a kitchen, grateful to find Sonny still conscious once he returned.

He'd have to take Sonny to a CVS or something in the morning, to one of the walk in clinics, or at least ask Usnavi to help. He couldn't afford ER bills right now. For the time being, though, three of the fingers on Sonny's right hand were clearly broken. Splinting them to the best of his ability, the boy's occasional cries of pain sending nails through his heart. Only one of the gashes appeared deep enough to require stitches, which the first aid kit had, thankfully. He recalled when the scaffolding he was painting from broke, and he had managed to gash his leg as he fell. Benny had helped him stitch up the wound, giving him a slight grasp on how to do it.

Sonny was fully sobbing by now, tears streaking from Pete's own eyes at the sight. His hands shook, though he was able to steady them just enough to get the curved needle through trembling flesh. He kept up the murmured praise, though it didn't seem to be helping much at all.

Cleaning away the blood once more, he placed a soft kiss to Sonny's forehead as his tears slowed. "Let's get you some clean clothes, alright? You should sleep."

Sonny just let out a grumble of protest, reaching up towards Pete. "Usnavi-" his voice faded off, but the meaning reached the older all the same.

"We'll figure it out in the morning, okay?" Pete guided the smaller boy's arms so that they latched around his neck, holding on as if he was his only life source. "I've got you," the words left his mouth as less than a whisper. When it was clear that Sonny still couldn't quite walk, he simply linked an arm under his legs, another around his back, holding him to his chest as he drifted in and out of sleep. The boy let out a soft huff on contentment, letting his head fall against Pete's shoulder. "Good boy."

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, Sonny's binding with ace bandages is marked as unsafe because it is UNSAFE. DO NOT DO IT. If you cannot afford a binder at full price, there are online organizations that can mail you one for free, though those have been known to take a while. Many LGBT+ youth groups will be able to get you one as well, you can talk to your GSA leader or leader of any other group you attend (if you do) and they should be able to find a resource. 
> 
> Otherwise, thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are much appreciated!
> 
> find me at:  
> wattpad- mellerbee  
> twitter- mellerbees  
> instagram- mellerbees + freezeyourrbrain


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